It was evident during the week that this game against the Texans meant something more to Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton than any other game on the schedule this season so far.

But Dalton did not say anything about it while preparing, Bengals wide receiver Moahmed Sanu said but they took a message from offensive coordinator Hue Jackson to heart about it being their quarterback’s hometown.

“I could tell what it meant to him this week,” he said. “He has had a little bit of a rough patch down here, so the way we were able to get the win today and in the fashion we won today, it was really exciting.”

Looking back, the last time Dalton had won in Houston as a starting quarterback was all the way back in his freshman year at TCU leading the Horned Frogs to a 20-13 victory against University of Houston in the 2007 Texas Bowl.

Dalton finished that game going 21-for-30 for 249 yards and one interception.

With Dalton getting the win on Sunday, Cincinnati head coach Marvin Lewis said he hopes that silences all the “can’t win in your hometown talk”.

“Hopefully now that all can be over the hump,” he said. “Hopefully he’s over the hump with that now. He can come home and play here. Take back the one throw and push forward. It’s good for Andy (Dalton) to be able to come here.”

Heading into Sunday, the former Katy High School quarterback had lost back-to-back games in his hometown, both playoff games, falling in the 2012 and 2013 AFC Wild Card games to the Texans, 31-10 and 19-13, respectively.

On Sunday, his father Greg’s 55th birthday, Andy put on a passing clinic starting the game 18-for-21 before finishing the game 23-for-35 for 233 yards for one touchdown and an interception.

He saw his dad walking off the field and told him happy birthday, Dalton said, and his father responded saying it was an awesome birthday giving Andy a special moment with his dad.

With grass stains and all, Dalton’s jersey after the game went to his dad. It is the first one he has really saved, Dalton said because at TCU or Katy High School they only gave you one jersey so you could not just take one.

Overall it was just a great day for the Dalton family at NRG Stadium.

“It’s cool to come back and get a win back at home,” Dalton said. “It’s even more special today because today is my dad’s birthday so it’s cool to get a win here and have it timed up where we playing in Houston. It’s a special day.”

So why did Dalton have such a successful game in his hometown finally?

It was how quick Dalton was getting the ball out of his hand all afternoon that made it difficult for Texans defenders, Houston safety Danieal Manning said and

“He got rid of the ball,” he said. “He got the ball out of his hands. The game plan, we wanted to disguise it, but we had to get into our coverages early because he was getting rid of the ball. He had some manageable third downs and he was able to run the ball and some plays to keep us honest.”

For Dalton he can finally put the pair of playoff losses behind him here in Houston, the fourth-year quarterback said, and it’s good to get those bad memories replaced by a good one and a really special day.

“Absolutely. I think the last couple of times we have come here, the last couple of times I have been in this room right here, it hasn’t gone in our favor so it is good just to get that behind us,” Dalton said. “We don’t have to worry about anybody talking about that anymore. Those are the first couple of years and we have moved on from that and so we have to keep doing whatever we can to win these games.”

For more coverage of the Texans be sure to follow Joshua Koch (@jokoch09) on Twitter.